At the Death's Door
by athenaphoenix17
Summary: Death Eaters were dying one by one after the fall of Voldemort. Everyone thought it was because they used Unforgivables that tainted their soul. Everyone but one. Written for Round 4 of The House Competition Year 5.


House: Snakes

Class Subject: Transfiguration

Story Category: Drabble

Prompt: [Song Prompt] Dust and Ashes from Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812

Word Count: 1951

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and [1] is a quote from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

* * *

He hissed internally. He knew he should've been used to it, but it was difficult. No matter where he went, he could hear whispers and loud voices wishing him dead or worse, cursing his family, or simply calling him 'Death Eater'. Some people didn't hide their disgust by spitting whenever they saw him.

Today was no different. He was browsing the new Quidditch supplies in Diagon Alley to celebrate his graduation from Hogwarts, when soon he felt stuffy and uncomfortable with all the staring and the not-so- hushed voices regarding his family and how they were grateful when they read that Lucius Malfoy had died six months ago in Azkaban.

He rushed out of the store, and suddenly he felt fatigue. He tried to prop himself to the nearest wall, but his limbs felt weak as if someone hit him with a Jelly-Legs curse. Perhaps someone did curse him. The world seemed to blur for him. He could hear words around him and see people passing by, but no one seemed to care.

He could feel himself falling and collided with the cold stone of the alley. He felt another pain crept from his arm through the rest of his body. His breathing was ragged. He felt his consciousness fading.

He was lying on the street and he realized he might die. He wondered if someone would realize that he was dead. Would someone notify his mother? Or simply throw curses and hexes until his dead body was unrecognizable and he would be tossed away like rubbish?

He closed his eyes, hoping it would make the pain lessen and avoiding the look of disgust that's directed at him. A flicker of regret came, he hadn't had a chance to apologize to lots of people, including a certain Muggleborn witch he had tormented during their school time. The same witch who bled in his manor and who looked at him with pleading eyes while being tortured by his insane aunt.

"Malfoy!"

How cruel it was, that he could hear her voice now.

"Malfoy, wake up!"

The voice grew louder and his pain alleviated. He opened his eyes and looked directly into a pair of brown eyes.

"I'm sorry, Granger."

At least he was given a chance to apologize, even though it was a near-death illusion. He closed his eyes again, welcoming the darkness that swallowed him.

xxXxx

People said when you're dying you saw your life flashes before your eyes, but that did not happen to him. Instead, his thoughts were running wild.

Would he be a different man if Potter shook his hand when he extended it to him during their first year?

Would he have taken a different path if he admitted that despite being Muggleborn, Hermione Granger was the brightest witch of her age?

Would it change the way he thought about blood prejudice, no matter what his father said?

Would it make any difference if he refused to receive the Mark to redeem the mistake his father made?

Would he have a different future if he accepted Snape's offer to help him during his sixth year?

Would there be any different life for him if he went straight to Dumbledore to ask for protection for him and his mother?

Would…

He wouldn't know what "would" be when he finally succumbed to his final time. Death didn't seem so bad, he thought, as he was free from the pain.

xxXxx

"There's a talk about the reestablishment of the Quidditch League, but it's been the same issue for the last two months. There's a new store opening up at Hogsmeade. Well, you didn't miss out much, I think. But better wake up quickly so you don't miss out on anything else."

xxXxx

"… no need to do this. He's a prat and still is-"

"Oh, grow up, Ronald! He was as much a victim as the others."

"Victim?! Are you out of your mind, Hermione?"

xxXxx

"Thank you, Hermione."

"How's Teddy?"

"Getting bigger. He missed you. "

xxXxx

He didn't know how long it had been. Sometimes, he heard the voices of someone monologuing or people talking. He didn't know who were talking or what they were talking about, but he remembered one voice. How could he not remember? It was the voice that haunted his dreams every night, screaming in agony while being tortured over, and over, again.

xxXxx

"_Father and teachers, I ponder, "What is hell?" I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love. Once in infinite existence, immeasurable in time and space, a spiritual creature was given on his coming to earth the power of saying, "I am and I love." Once, only once, there was given him a moment of active lifting love..."_[1]

It was her again. He wanted to ask what she was reading, but he couldn't open his eyes nor say anything. He tried desperately to tell her.

He didn't know what happened, but he heard a thud and a clattering of something before she shouted in panic.

He wanted to tell her not to worry. He wanted to apologize for not being able to help her, for all the cruel things he did to her, and he wanted to let her know he wanted to change but he didn't know how.

"Please…" he managed in a hoarse voice.

xxXxx

"It all depends on him, Miss Granger. Your potion is indeed amazing work - to be able to counter the curse from the Mark. I understand lots of people wondered why you wasted your time to save these Death Eaters, but you can trust us here. We, healers, have vowed to help saving everyone in need, no matter who they are. However, whether your potion can save a life or not is not on you. It's on them. The curse may be broken but the rest is up to them, whether they choose to live or not."

"I know," Hermione sighed.

xxXxx

"It's been a month, Malfoy. Are you not planning to wake up?"

"Your mother is worried. She wants to be here, but she's still under house arrest and didn't get permission from the Ministry. She sends me owls every day, asking about you."

Hermione held Draco's hand and squeezed it gently. She looked on her former bully with sad eyes. She felt like she understood him better when she attended the Malfoys' hearings. Draco had been forced to take the Mark to make up for the mistake of his father, under threat that Tom Riddle would kill Narcissa. Harry testified that Draco lowered his wand during his confrontation with Dumbledore and he was sure that Draco would take Dumbledore's offer of sanctuary if not for the Death Eaters who were joining him on the tower.

She felt that in a way, Draco was just like Harry. A teenager being forced to take on a responsibility bigger than they should bear. Harry had to welcome death, without even knowing whether he'd survive or not, to keep everyone safe. Draco had to do many questionable things to protect his family. Both had a choice to just flee, but they couldn't act on that option. Harry was just too noble and Draco was just too much a coward.

Suddenly, she felt movement from the hand she'd been holding.

"Dra… Malfoy?"

She saw his eyes flutter until his grey orbs looked in her eyes.

xxXxx

It'd been a week since he had escaped death. The healers said he'd be released in the next two days. To his disappointment, Hermione didn't visit him again. He started to wonder if he was just imagining things. There was no way Hermione would spend her time in his room at St. Mungo's, surely it was just a hallucination from the potion or curse or whatever made him sick in the first place.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Malfoy," Healer McKnight greeted him as he entered the room.

Draco gave him a nod.

He cast the usual diagnostic charms and mentioned several different potions he will need to take.

"Is there anything you want to ask me, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked as per usual.

Usually, Draco just shook his head. This time, he wanted answers.

"What happened to me?"

"Ah, I thought you'd never ask," he replied. "Have you noticed that your Mark has started to fade?"

Draco took a look at his Mark, he rarely did that as he despised the wretched thing. To his surprise, it was true. The Mark looked dull and faded.

"How?" he asked.

"Apparently, Tom Riddle didn't just 'mark' his followers. The Mark is also a curse. He designed it so that no one will survive if he didn't survive. When he was finally defeated, the curse activated. The bearer of the Mark will have his organs shut down one by one, quickly. We still didn't know why the course of the curse is different for everyone. At first with the numbers of Death Eaters dying in Azkaban, we thought it was a reaction from the Unforgivables. But then Miss Granger brought you here around one month ago and she insisted on administering a new potion she's invented."

"She had been researching about the deaths of the Death Eaters and somehow found that there was a curse cast on the Mark, and she created a potion that can counteract the curse," he then smiled at him., "You, Mr. Malfoy, are the first patient to fully recover."

"Why?" he asked again.

"We still didn't know for certain, but we think that your will to live is helping your recovery. The core of the curse is designed to shut down your organs, but the residual effect is similar to what happens when you encounter Dementor. They torment your soul, so much that you wish to die instead. You, on the other hand-"

"No," he shook his head. "Why did she save _me_?"

"Perhaps you can ask her yourself," he said.

Draco was about to tell him that he couldn't possibly meet with Granger, when suddenly the healer shifted and he could see her entering his room.

xxXxx

As soon as the healer left and Hermione took a seat, he asked her, "Why did you save me - , I meant us?" he gritted his teeth for the slip of his tongue.

"Because it was a cruel thing to do, Dr… Malfoy," she answered. "I know you didn't want any of this. I know by the look of your face and how reluctant you were to identify us that you knew it was wrong. That all of it was wrong and cruel."

"I still condemned those who tortured and killed just because they felt they were better than others, but there were those who were forced to take the Mark, like you did, who didn't see any other choice. So, I wanted to help. To give them a chance to live their life," she continued, "Thank you for choosing to live."

"It was your voice," he said tentatively. "Yours was the only voice I heard in the darkness. It was easier to just let go, but your voice made me want to live, to apologize to you. The next thing I know, I saw your eyes."

He stared intently at the window, avoiding her eyes. Suddenly, she pulled him into a hug.

"I have a lot to learn. Could you teach me how to repent for my mistakes?"

He could tell that she was nodding.

"How to be a better person?"

She nodded again.

"How to make you fall in love with me?"

She released him abruptly, looking bewildered and blushing furiously.

He smirked at her, glad that he decided to fight and chose to live.

xFINx


End file.
